Feature Archives

On July 6th, California State prosecutors were forced to admit that they have insufficient evidence against the San Francisco 8. Charges against four of the defendants were dropped and Jalil Muntaqim pled no contest to conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter. Those for whom charges were dismissed were Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Hank Jones, and Harold Taylor. A Community Celebration for the SF8 was held July 7th in San Francisco.

On Wednesday, July 8th, the Radical Teachers Alliance will host Jeff Duncan-Andrade from 5-7pm at UC Santa Cruz. The event is open to students, educators, and community members and will engage in ideas of critical pedagogy, student identity and education in urban settings. This is an opportunity to discuss ideas of theory connecting with actual classroom practices -- educators taking action to work towards equitable and empowering educational spaces.

Rose City Antifa writes: "This July, David Irving, a British neo-fascist and fraudulent historian, goes on the road in the United States, planning to hold approximately one and a half dozen speaking engagements over the course of a month. As militant anti-racists and anti-fascists, we are making a public call for resistance at each stop along the way of this tour."

On June 6th, a candlelight vigil and march for Luis Gutierrez Navarro, a farm worker killed by undercover Yolo County Sheriff's deputies, was held at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Woodland, CA. On April 30th, twenty-six-year old Luis Gutierrez was walking home from the Woodland DMV after taking a Driver's License test when he was approached by three undercover gang suppression officers who shot six bullets, killing him in broad daylight.

On wednesday, May 27, members of "Achoti" (my sister), a feminist organization representing jews of color (Mizrahim-Jews who emigrated from Arab countries) and members of the Democratic Mizrahi Rainbow, came to the Jerusalem Theater to demonstrate a convention about culture in Israel. The activists held signs that looked like bank checks with names of cultural institutions and the amount of money given to each. One check (in the picture below), addressed to "Mizrahi culture" had no money on it and the wording "void" was added.

On May 28th, students, staff, workers, and faculty rallied at the base of the UC Santa Cruz campus to protest the UC administration’s decision to cut Community Studies department staff, Latin American Latina/o Studies professors, and director positions at the American Indian Resource Center and the Women’s Center. The rally was organized by the New UC coalition to ensure universal access to education, and to promote freedom of thought in the university.

The preliminary hearing in the trial of Johannes Mehserle for the murder of Oscar Grant III began on May 18th. Indybay has reports from inside the court room during the entire hearing. Outside the court house, demonstrators have gathered to press for an effective prosecution of Johannes Mehserle. The hearing concluded on June 4th when Judge Clay declared that Mehserle will stand trial for murder. The family of Oscar Grant gratefully acknowledged community activists and supporters who rallied at the court house.